The car of the year 2025 is the all-electric Renault 5. The newly released model, based on its famous model, was announced as the winner on Friday during a gala at the auto show in Brussels in front of around 300 spectators. The Kia EV3, which was also electric, came in second, and the Citroën C3 completed the podium. The first two have a remarkable lead over the rest of the field. The Renault received 353 votes. The Kia 291, the Citroën 215. The award with the original English title “Car of the year” is considered the most coveted in the industry. The award has been presented since 1964 and has never been derailed. However, the circumstances have changed after the corona pandemic. The Geneva Motor Show, traditionally held in March, is no longer taking place; with their long-standing and valued partner, the voting journalists have lost their usual place at the awards ceremony. The Brussels trade fair immediately offered itself as a stage, and so the award is now being presented at this location in January and for the second time. As always, seven finalists competed against each other in the final round, all of them highly praised new releases. They were chosen by a jury of 60 European specialist journalists in a secret ballot. There were a whopping 42 candidates up for election this year, which proves how busy the industry is. The following were nominated in the final in alphabetical order: Alfa Romeo Junior, Citroën C3, Cupra Terramar, Dacia Duster, Hyundai Inster, Kia EV 3 and Renault 5. A slap in the face for the German industry. For the second time since 2022, however, the awarding of the award is a slap in the face for the German industry industry connected. There was not a single German brand in the final round. No manufacturer from Japan or China made it into the seven finalists either. The debacle for the proud auto nations Germany and Japan was by no means imminent, as there were some promising candidates on the longlist. Audi A5, BMW Renault boss Fabrice Cambolive in front of the winning car Holger Appel One can only speculate about the motives, the choice for the shortlist is secret. Only the Car of the Year award is made public; each juror writes down their evaluation, which can be viewed on the organization’s homepage. Some jury members tend to give expensive vehicles few points because they only reach a few customers. This explains, among other things, why Mercedes-Benz and BMW, for example, have not been able to achieve pole position for years despite their outstanding vehicles. There are members who think this is wrong, as many innovations come into the vehicles from top to bottom. The jurors are experienced and independent, the price cannot be influenced by the industry, there are no sponsors from the industry. The organization, which is supported by the participating media, bears the costs itself. The focus is on the consumer; the quality assessment should be for them. The criteria are strict. Each jury member must have personally driven each car they wish to judge. This ensures that the impressions are authentic. Because of the transparency and the professional jury, the title is particularly desirable. There is only one winner, no subcategories.More on the topicThe Technology and Motor editorial team traditionally accompanies the election; the author of these lines is a member of the jury. As in previous years, we once again let our readers vote on FAZ.NET. If they had their way, the Renault 5 would also have been the car of the year 2025. He won the readers’ poll, in which around 3,600 votes were cast, by a noticeable margin. The Cupra and the Alfa followed in second and third place, which only came second to last and last in the jury’s vote. Last year’s winner was the Renault Scénic. So Renault has achieved the feat of winning twice in a row.
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